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Local boy, Col. Donald Richey couldn't be happier to be back in "sweet home Alabama," as the newest Operations Group commander for the 908th Airlift Wing. Richey was grateful his latest duty assignment reunited him with family.

Richey's assumption of command ceremony was held Saturday at Maxwell Air Force Base, where he has a history with the 908th. Although many of those he had worked with before have left, he quickly became reacquainted with those still there.

"We been catching up on stories, which has been great," Richey said. "It's not often that someone in the military gets an opportunity to come back home near the end of their career to be able to be a commander."

Richey spent most of his growing-up years on base when his father was stationed there from 1981-1984. After graduating from Carver High School, Richey attended Auburn University Montgomery and took part in Alabama State University's ROTC program and was commissioned as an officer for the United States Air Force.

Over the course of six and half years of active-duty service, Richey moved around a lot, but Montgomery kept calling him back, serving there for several assignments. He finally became a member of the 908th in June 1993 and stayed there until 2005.

It was 11 years before Richey and his wife returned home from his assignment to Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command in Georgia and then to 911 Air Wing in Pennsylvania, but he's glad they did. He's now closer to his 6-year-old grandson in Montgomery and his other grown children who live in the Southeast.

"My wife's family is from here and I have a grandson who lives in Montgomery and a son who lives two hours north of here," Richey said. "After being a military dependent for 22 years and being in the military for almost 30 years, Montgomery is the longest I have ever stayed in any one place."

"This is where my roots have grown the deepest ... I identify Montgomery as my home," Richey added.

Returning to Alabama was paramount for another reason.

Over the next few days, 908th Reservists are scheduled to return from a four-month deployment to Southwest Asia, where they helped prepare and load cargo for military airdrops.

"It was really important for me to get down here as quickly as I could, because I wanted to be in place when our members return back from their deployment to welcome them," Richey said. "A lot of those airmen are people that I've known from my previous assignments ... It really is family for me."

A few airmen returned last week, and several out of 20 who deployed are scheduled to return today at Montgomery Regional Airport's Dannelly Field,

As Operations Group commander, Richey leads a team of 250 airmen who provide airlift and aeromedical evacuation and who are often deployed around the world. He hopes to "help the morale of the people," he said.

"I want to make sure that the people who work for me and the people who are assigned here are happy to be here and I want to make sure that they are ready to do their mission, and that their families are taken care of and supported," Richey added,

Richey assumes command following the departure of Col. Ed Jennings, who commanded the Operations Group for eight years.

Richey has served in several combat operations to include Desert Shield/Storm, Provide Promise, Volant Oak, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom and has been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal with five Oak Leaf Clusters, the Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Aerial Achievement Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and Air Force Commendation Medal among others.